With the mast and boom in place it was now feasible to begin the sail ordering process. While we could have proceeded earlier on theoretical dimensions there seemed no particular hurry with winter coming on and the fact that this was our first time specifying these important (and expensive) pieces of fabric. While the actual act of fabricating a good sail is not rocket science, designing an efficient one does involve the study of aerodynamics. And a cruising sail is a very different beast from a racing sail. Racing sails are designed for short, intense usage where initial shape is paramount and long term considerations are minor. Exotic fabrics rule the day. A cruising sail must have features both of efficient shape and durability, plus aspects that make the day to day handling easier and more convenient. Durability revolves around resistance to UV light, chafe and the slightly inattentive helmsperson who occasionally allows the sails to flog a bit or the leech to flutter. I did lots of research on sails and sailmaking, acquiring a half dozen (mostly out of print) books on the subject and using the interweb to browse various sailmaker’s sites, forums, YouTube and other resources. Finally, one must choose a loft and it is this relationship that is ultimately going to most influence the design of the sail. I used the theoretical dimensions to obtain initial quotes from a number of sail lofts in order to weed out the absurd ones (really, Doyle?)Then I interviewed the representatives from the remainder, trying to get a sense of their understanding of our needs and willingness to produce a product that was somewhat customized to our requests. Sadly, most of the lofts had a sort of prix fixe menu and didn’t seem too excited about really working with us. Then Helen suggested contacting a cruiser whose blog she had been following for awhile, Jamie Gifford of SailingTotem.com. Jamie was a sailmaker in Seattle before setting out with his wife and 3 children on an extended world cruise in 2008. Along the way he helped other cruisers with their failing sails and developed a real sense of what works in the real world. In Malaysia he teamed up with a kiwi sailmaker to form a “virtual” sailmaking company called Zoom Sails (www.zoomsails.com) . Phil had extensive relationships with several lofts in southeast Asia. We read several glowing reviews of their sails in other blogs.

In my initial correspondence with Jamie he took great pains to explain the whys behind his sometimes slightly unconventional approach to various details. His patience with me was heroic and for several months we discussed our sails. I learned a huge amount and gained confidence in the concept of “offshoring” our sails. My biggest concern was that we not use any kind of exploitative sweatshop type of labor. Videos of the workings in the loft in Sri Lanka assured me that the conditions were humane and that the sailmakers there were in fact very gainfully employed in a high skill job. Not rocket science, but good honest craftsmanship. Of course, the other concern was that we were sending money into the ether without having ever met in person either of the principals of Zoom whose permanent address was a boat! Being prudent, I decided that we would order the smallest sail, the staysail, first, to make sure the process worked and that the quality of the work was what we expected. 2 weeks after ordering the sail arrived by priority air express in perfect condition. It’s construction was extremely rugged and the stitching was flawless.

The spark of life

Hoisting a sail onto Helacious for the first time, on a cold December day,with our 2 sons in attendance, was a highlight of this 8 year project.The reality of actually going sailing was emerging from the mist.

The shrouds had previously only been tightened “hand-tight”. Rig adjustment is a bit of a black art. Finally I found a book with some hard data written by a Norwegian sailor. The cap shrouds should be tightened to 15% of breaking laod. It is a feature of 1x19 316ss wire that a 3mm elongation measured over a 2 meter length equals 15% of BL. We taped a 6’ folding ruler to the shroud, marked it’s lower end and then tightened away on the turnbuckle. It didn’t actually take too many turns to achieve the target. The backstays were also adjusted in this manner, then the remainder of the shrouds tightened in a manner to straighten the mast column (black art, see?). Ultimately we will examine the shrouds and mast while underway to see if the leeward ones are too slack while beating, but for now we have some tension and the mast is (mostly) straight with a wee back of back bend a about 2˚ of rake.

We began the process then of measuring for the main and the jib.We have 36” high lifelines to clear, plus the mast pulpits, plus the inner forestay. A 150% heavy genoa did not make sense, so in discussion with Jamie and Phil we opted for a 110% genoa (which is just barely a genoa, I suppose, more of a jib).The clew would be high enough to clear, but not extreme like a Yankee, which loses too much area. The measurement job was very thorough, with lots of cross checks.

The main was somewhat simpler to measure and we deferred to the sailmakers as to most of the details-they know what they are doing. It is a full batten main, with 3 reefs. Each reef tack has a web and ring “dogbone” for hooking onto the tack horn. It is traditional slab reefing. Zoom’s method of corner reinforcement is a radial star pattern which orients the bias of the fabric in line with the highest loads. We opted for Dimension Polyant AP fabric which they( Jamie and Phil) have tested in the tropics as having much better longevity than Marblehead. It is a bit stiffer and about 10% more expensive (for the material). We also ordered a stack pack type sailcover in , of course, red Sunbrella.

About 3 weeks after the order was placed the sails arrived in 2 huge boxes via air express, weighing each about 45 kg. That weekend John and Ken, neighbors from down the dock, helped us wrestle the genoa onto the foredeck and we hoisted it easily up the furler. A gentle wind stirred it fitfully to and fro, a thoroughbred waiting for the gate to open.

We waited a few weeks for the sailcover to arrive before installing the main. Again, everything fit perfectly, as if it had been custom made, which of course it was!

This is an easy way for Helen and I to share our adventures and also the best way to contact us. This Odyssey Yachts blog is a legacy app that is no longer supported by Apple, so shortly I will have to stop updating it, although it will still be available online. Once we start cruising I would like to start a new blog which is web based. Stay tuned...